UN official: North Koreans say it is important to prevent war

The United Nations expects North Korea to "signal" willingness to prepare the negotiations on the settlement of the nuclear crisis, according to Jeffrey Feltman, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs.

"We've seen quite a bit of that in ship-to-ship transfers of refined fuel products, for example", McMaster said, speaking at an event in Washington hosted by the British think tank Policy Exchange. But they did not offer any type of commitment to us at that point.

The DPRK officials agreed that Feltman's visit was the first step and the dialogue should continue, said Feltman.

"I emphasized the importance of opening or re-opening technical channels of communications, such as the military-to-military hotline, to reduce risks, signal intentions to prevent misunderstandings, and manage any crisis".

Feltman added, however, that his visit to Pyongyang has contributed to opening a door for dialogue, explaining that officials had agreed that it was "important to prevent war" on the Korean peninsula. He told the DPRK officials that the United Nations and others can facilitate the processes if desired.

The U.N. political chief said Tuesday that senior North Korean officials told him during his visit last week "that it was important to prevent war" over the country's rapidly advancing nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Pyongyang tested its most advanced global ballistic missile in November, which it said is capable of hitting any part of the mainland of the United States.

North Korea's Central News Agency (KCNA) said that the Hwasong-15 missile had covered a distance of 950 kilometers during its 53-minute flight, reaching an altitude of 4,475 kilometers.

The top diplomat's comments differ with Trump, who has said that Tillerson is "wasting his time" in trying to negotiate with North Korea.

He said he believes he conveyed the concerns of Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the Security Council and the global community, but he was cautious about the impact. On November 28 North Korea test-fired a nuclear-capable missile that showed the potential to strike anywhere on the continental United States.

North Korea has made clear it has little interest in negotiations with the United States until it has developed the ability to hit the U.S. mainland with a nuclear-tipped missile, something most experts say it has still not proved.